By Debbie Gregory.

A new, lightweight ghillie suit for snipers is being tested to replace the current Flame Resistant Ghillie System, or FRGS, that will be more functional for troops in hot environments.

The proposed Improved Ghillie System (IGS) a modular system that would be worn over the field uniform.

During the three day testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, snipers concealed themselves in a forest setting while other snipers tried to spot them from distances from 33 to 655 feet.

A ghillie suit is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble the background environment such as foliage, snow or sand. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of burlap, cloth or twine, sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs, and optionally augmented with scraps of foliage from the area.

Program Executive Office Soldier developed the IGS. Components include sleeves, leggings, veil and cape that can be added or taken off as needed.

The Army plans to buy about 3,500 IGSs to outfit the approximately 3,300 snipers in the service, as well as Army snipers in U.S. Special Operations Command.

The ghillie suit was developed by Scottish gamekeepers as a portable hunting blind. Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Highland regiment formed by the British Army during the Second Boer War, is the first known military unit to use ghillie suits.

The IGS features a lighter, more breathable fabric than the material used in the FRGS, and offers some flame-resistance, but soldiers will receive most of their protection from their Flame Resistant Combat Uniform, worn underneath the IGS, Army officials said.

Snipers, except for those fighting in urban terrain, traditionally spend much of their shooting time in a “creep,” pursuing a target in the prone position. A soldier’s creation of his first ghillie suit is seen as a rite of passage into the sniper community.

By Debbie Gregory.

Did you enjoy “Unbroken” the 2014 film that ended with ended with Olympic athlete and Army Air Forces officer Louis Zamperini returning home after surviving his incarceration in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. It was a Hollywood ending to a big-budget Hollywood movie, but it didn’t really capture what Zamperini considered to be the miracle of his own life.

The movie that Zamperini would want all of us to see is now out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital and follows his life as he meets and woos his wife Cynthia and his life collapses as he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Zamperini conquered his demons after a religious conversion at a Billy Graham crusade, and this movie ends as he embraces Christianity and puts his life back on track. It is called “Unbroken: Path To Redemption”.

In the film, Samuel Hunt takes the role of Louis Zamperini from Jack McConnell, and Merritt Patterson plays Cynthia. The evangelist Will Graham takes a rare acting role, playing his grandfather Billy Graham. “Unbroken: Path to Redemption” is the story of one war hero’s attempts to overcome PTSD. Luke Zamperini acknowledges that Christianity may not be a solution for everyone, but it worked for his dad.

Let us know what you think of this film and if you enjoyed it more than “Unbroken” that was produced and directed by Angela Jolie.

By Debbie Gregory.

TITAN, stands for Tactical Interface Tracking Application Node and allows users to log in anywhere in the world with a computer on the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, using an internet browser, without the necessity for downloads to communicate worldwide with deployed units. This software provides important situation awareness that is important to success. To date, soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have tested the system.

This works well with the Army’s Home Station Mission Command initiative that moves the service away from deploying division main elements to theater and instead, deploys smaller and more agile units that require less logistics. TITAN has the ability to pull up maps, view multiple global locations and color-code soldiers’ locations. It also enables chat, messaging, sending attachments, situation reports filing as well as creating distribution lists and it does not require training. This will be the Army’s next-generation friendly-force tracking system.

The pilot program for Titan was begun by the Army in August and should be finished soon. There will be additional capabilities developed. TITAN was used during the unit’s National Training Center rotation in November. Major Adam Cloniger, officer-in-charge for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is very pleased with Titan.

By Debbie Gregory.

A field-deployable liquid chemical identifier called the VK3 has received positive feedback from warfighters and first responders in a recent field test funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

U.S. Army research officials have developed the handheld detector that can “taste” suspicious liquids to see if they are dangerous chemical warfare agents.

The VK3 uses a camera and small computer to identify chemical agent by analyzing colorimetric sensors on an assay.

“We had seen and heard that those who are tasked with site exploitation — the first people in a facility where somebody is making something — needed tools to better identify the substances being made,” said Army research biologist Aleksandr Miklos in a recent service press release. “Maybe it’s perfectly legal and safe, but maybe they’re doing something illicit and dangerous. The first examiner has to decide what tools to bring. We thought something like this with a colorimetric array would be helpful.”

The small, cube-like device features a camera and small computer, and the kit includes paper colorimetric assays. After placing an assay on the device’s stage for a reference image, a drop is added to the assay. As various spots on the assay change color, they are captured by the camera and continuously analyzed by the computer to identify the substance.

During the recent Chemical Biological Operational Analysis, or CBOA, the VK3 demonstrated its ability to identify chemical liquids in the field, including chemical warfare agents.

“What we were able to get was informal, verbal feedback from the assessor and from end users in the Army and civilian law enforcement,” said Miklos.

“It’s a really cool research prototype, and now we know more about how it works,” he said. “The question is going to be whether it gets more funding for advanced development. What we need is for someone to say, ‘Yes, we want that.’ “

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Space Force,  a proposed branch of the United States Armed Forces which is intended to have control over military operations in outer space, will include uniformed service members drawn from the Air Force, Army and Navy.

According to a Department of Defense proposal, the Space Force would absorb Air Force Space Command, the Army’s 1st Space Brigade, the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Naval Satellite Operations Center.

Installations and facilities would remain within their current services until the Space Force achieves an appropriate operating capability.

The National Reconnaissance Office would not be immediately merged in, although integration could gradually occur.

The missions of the Space Force would include space situational advantage; battle management command and control of space forces; space lift and range operations; space support to nuclear command and control; missile warning; satellite communications and position, navigation and timing.

Six recommendations laid out by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan,  the Pentagon’s point person responsible for formulating a plan to implement a Space Force, include language that:

• Guides the creation of a unified space command to be known as U.S. Space Command
• Gives direction on an legislative proposal for a Space Force
• Calls for creating a funding plan in the fiscal year 2020 budget for a Space Force
• Outlines an interagency authorities review
• Establishes joint Space Development Agency for technology procurement
• Strengthens the relationship between military space and the intelligence community

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who formerly opposed separating the Air Force’s space functions from the service, now says she supports Trump’s Space Force plan.

The National Space Council is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence.